Cyclone working on another run at gold
The E.L. Crossley Cyclone senior girls volleyball team are a work in progress.
The Cyclone captured gold at the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) championship in March of 2019, but don’t have any players remaining from that squad.
“We’re starting all over,” Crossley coach Michelle Gibson said Wednesday following a 25-15, 25-14, 11-25, 25-14 victory over the Greater Fort Erie Secondary School Gryphons in a Niagara Region High School Athletic Association game at GFESS.
The win was the third in as many games for the Cyclone, but Gibson said there is still work to do.
“It has been a bit of a challenge,” Gibson said. “I have a talented group, there’s a really good talent pool I’ve been handed here, but it’s getting them to gel again, getting them to work as a team, getting them to listen to the coach.”
Gibson has made it a point to get the entire roster as many reps as possible.
“We start with the girls with the most experience and our goal is to always to let other girls come in and see some court time, learn the game from each other, and learn it a lot at practice,” she said. “Always our goal in games is to get them out there to feel that game pressure.”
Kennedy Hall, who is also a member of the Niagara Rapids U17 squad, said she feels the Cyclone are developing a strong chemistry.
“I played with a couple of these girls and I’ve gone to school with them for a while and I really enjoy their company,” Hall said. “They’re great, uplifting people.”
Hall said that cohesion helped in Wednesday’s match.
“We were kind of getting down but we’re able to connect with each other in a way that uplifts us and takes us through the game,” she said.
Gibson felt the Cyclone’s effort Wednesday was uneven.
“We’ve played two other games that were a lot quicker and more dynamic and energetic than this,” she said. “We’re not sure what was going on tonight — we chatted about a few different things — not our best game but we still won and everybody got to play which is important and it allows us to see what we need to work on and dig deeper when things aren’t going our way.”
Hall was a member of the Cyclone junior squad when the seniors won gold, something the Cyclone have in mind again.
“We are capable and I we know we are because we’ve proven ourselves. I just think we need to come out in the season strong and do our best,” Hall said.
Gibson agrees.
“I would say with the talent pool we’ve been given this should be an OFSAA-bound team but we have a lot of work to do,” she said.
Fort Erie coach John Cairns is also trying to rebuild his program.
“Because we had that year delay, we’re trying to bring everything back to get,” he said. “That’s what we’re working on right now. We’re trying to reform the program.
“Everyone is very rusty and focused on their studies.”
Cairns, too, is trying to use all of his roster each game.
“We’ll have a good mix until the end of the season and then tighten up the bench a little bit, but for right now, we’ll get everybody out there,” he said.
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